Steppenwolf’s Merle Reskin Garage Theatre

cool venue

Who doesn’t love Steppenwolf??? I have been going there for years; and even took the plunge, and was a subscriber a few years in a row.
I was introduced to the Garage Theatre a couple years ago, and find myself back there at least once or twice every season. The theatre is open and vast, with a small seating area and tiny bar. The furniture is beat up a bit, but adds to the grungy garage feeling. The bar in the corner offers a couple wines, a few beers, and a few spirits. The prices are dirt cheap and the cocktails are allowed during the performance.
Over the past few weeks, I attended the three plays that were showcased in the Garage Rep Festival. Steppenwolf chooses three plays from different Chicago playhouses, and gives them a space to shine. All three plays were either sold out or very close to it. I enjoyed all three plays (some a bit more than others) and am happy that I made the decision to see all of them. The performances here are always cheaper than larger playhouses in the city, and rarely disappoint. Steppenwolf seems to take pride in what they showcase in at this second location.
What a fantastic place to enjoy a play!

What a great space for a play. It’s small enough to be intimate, but large enough (seating for approx. 75) to accommodate a good audience.
We saw Hit the Wall, a fantastic performance about the Stonewall riots. The run is completely sold out, but if you go to the main box office at 9:30pm, you can get standby tickets. If you don’t get in, your ticket is refunded. We were 8^th and 9^th on the list and got seats!
I would definitely return here for another production, it was really well written and performed. It was dramatic and in your face and really fantastic.

So Nick, what do you want to do for Easter? I don’t know.
Brunch? Eh, I don’t really feel like it.
Go see a Punk play performed in a dark dingy garage? Sure! That sounds like fun!
Before you’re all like «HWhat» or «Ewww», it’s owned by Steppenwolf. It’s located on the bottom floor of the parking garage (which parking is only $ 9) that is across the street from the theater. They must have gotten the hand me downs from Steppenwolf’s other theaters because some of the seats were broken and the couches in the waiting area were really beat up, that is unless they want you to get that whole garage feel (maybe true). The classic stadium style seating can hold probably around 60 people and honestly the seats weren’t uncomfortable. If you can actually look around (they keep the lighting dim) you’ll notice that it’s quite a large space. Based on the only play I’ve seen so far, they will take full advantage of the open space! Staff is friendly as you can always expect from the Steppenwolf crew.
As for the performance of «Punkplay» it could have been more «Punk» for me. The acting was good, they made the characters relatable, and the story started off strong but then it went the way of «Punk»… disappeared and became something else. I’m seeing a weird trend in writers lately and I can’t say that I like it. They use shock value or (which is my least favorite) they use a whole lot of words to say absolutely nothing. Both of these methods are just used to confuse, mostly because the story is lacking plus they want to do something different from the next guy. I say bring back the plays with substance! I don’t need to be shocked, everyday life does that enough. Is the play worth going, I’m almost always going to say yes because people need more theatre in their lives but I would say use
for cheap tickets on this.